Penman Leigh T I
University of Oxford, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL, United Kingdom.
Sudhoffs Arch. 2010;94(1):73-99.
Despite the attention recently paid to Jakob Böhme's life and works, the Görlitz theosopher's most famous disciple, Balthasar Walther (1558-c.1630), remains something of a historical puzzle. Utilizing several recently rediscovered print and manuscript sources located by the author, the present article seeks to provide the first detailed biographical study of Walther, highlighting his significance to sixteenth and seventeenth century history in a myriad of contexts. Far from being merely a follower of Böhme, Walther emerges as significant in his own right as a physician, Paracelsian, Kabbalist, Weigelian, religious heretic, and distributor of magical manuscripts, whose personal networks extended across Europe and beyond. In addition to providing a biography, this article seeks to discover new avenues of enquiry in which information concerning Walther's life and thought might be uncovered and contextualized. This investigation simultaneously throws light upon Walther himself, as well as Jakob Böhme's often neglected intellectual and social Umwelt. It also points to new and entirely unexamined sources for Böhme's thought.
尽管最近人们对雅各布·伯麦的生平与著作颇为关注,但这位格尔利茨的神学家最著名的弟子巴尔塔萨·瓦尔特(1558—约1630年)在某种程度上仍是一个历史谜团。本文作者利用近期重新发现的几份印刷品和手稿资料,试图首次对瓦尔特进行详细的传记研究,突出他在众多背景下对16和17世纪历史的重要意义。瓦尔特远非仅仅是伯麦的追随者,他本身就是一位重要人物,身为医生、帕拉塞尔苏斯主义者、卡巴拉学者、韦格利主义者、宗教异端,以及魔法手稿的传播者,其个人关系网络遍布欧洲乃至更远地区。除了提供传记,本文还试图探寻新的研究途径,以便挖掘有关瓦尔特生平与思想的信息并将其置于具体背景中。这项研究同时揭示了瓦尔特本人,以及雅各布·伯麦常常被忽视的知识和社会环境。它还指出了伯麦思想的全新且完全未被审视的资料来源。